Local Woman Picks Up Neighbor's Beer Cans

I don’t mind being frank: I am an opponent of the charter school movement. Public services (such as public schools) are not an ATM. You are no more entitled to withdraw “your share” of the public school budget to educate your child someplace else than I am to take out “my share” of the public transportation system to buy a BMW. But look: prove me wrong. Show that, despite the great variability between states and even between schools, the lotteries basically work. Show me that there’s uniformity. Show me that independent authorities are handling the basic work so that the schools don’t have the opportunity to cheat. Show me that there’s an adversarial regulatory process to ensure fairness and consistency. Prove me wrong. Again, this could be a big, celebrated story.

I may be a bit of a pariah, but I know a good opportunity for an exposé when I see one, and these are two big, meaty, important stories that have real impact on our meritocratic process. I don’t have the contacts, access, or institutional authority to tell these stories. But the Atlantic? The New Yorker? The New York Times? ProPublica? These are big fat pitches hanging over the plate, waiting for you to take your swing. Go get it done.